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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
May, 1938
“ That day that you and Mother prayed for me.” “ How do you know that you are saved?” “Jesus died for me on the cross, and I came to Him as a sinner and believed on Him, and He received me.” “Praise the Lord. I thought so, but I wanted to be sure.” Father, mother, have you dealt with your child faithfully? Have you talked to your girl about her personal relationship to Christ? Have you shown her from the Bible how to be saved and how to know that she is saved? Have you told your boy how he may be born again? If you have not, do not let sleep come to your eyes before you have won your own boy or girl for the Lord Jesus. Initiative in the Service of Christ There are many ways of presenting the gospel. One of the methods that is proving useful at Biola is the simple object lesson known as “ The Gbspel in a Nutshell.” A walnut is cracked and the contents are removed. Wound on a bent hairpin attach ment, a tightly rolled - ribbon of specific colors is placed inside, and the two halves of the shell are glued together. In presenting the message, the Christian worker first pulls out a black ribbon which illustrates the heart of the unregenerated. He quotes a text like Romans 3 :23: “ For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” and then emphasizes the lost condi tion of man apart from Christ. As he pulls, the black is followed by a red ribbon, and he quotes Hebrews 9 :22: “Without shedding of blood is no remission” and 1 Corinthians 15:3: “ Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” Here the speaker has an opportunity to present the heart of the gospel and to show that there is salvation only in Christ and in His finished work of redemption. The next ribbon is green, and the condi tions of spiritual growth are emphasized in connection with 1 Peter 2:2||‘As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” After the green ribbon comes the blue which speaks of that which is above and reminds the Christian Philippians 3 :20, R. V .: “ Our citizenship is in heaven.” The final ribbon is golden, and speaks of our heavenly home: “ The city was pure gold” (Rev. 21:18). Thus at the climax of the lesson the speaker finds an occasion to speak of the eternal abiding place of those who are saved. The hairpin attachment, bent to form a handle for wind ing the ribbon, makes it possible to fold up the ribbon in the shell and have it ready immediately for another demonstration. This object lesson can be carried in the pocket or purse, and can be used in presenting the plan of salvation to an individual, group, or congregation. One of our Biola students invented the winding attachment. He is now producing this simple and practical object lesson for students and others who are using it effec tively among both children and adults. In preparing this equipment this young man has revealed initiative and ingenuity and has directed these qualities toward a spiritual end. One day he went into a store and asked the price of a bushel of walnuts. Upon re
ceiving the answer, he called attention to the possibilities of a display in the window that would be attractive and productive. When he was asked his price for preparing the display, he named the price of the basket of walnuts. He was given the job and carried away the nuts. He was able to secure ribbons at wholesale prices, and now he is in the business of preparing “ The Gospel in a Nutshell” object lessons. It is clearly improbable that this young man will ever be without work in the Lord’s vineyard, for he has developed alert ness to the opportunities that surround him. Why are there on every hand many unem ployed Christian workers ? Some of them, of course, never were called to full-time serv ice. A human inclination or the influence of others led them to think of entering full time Christian work. Others may be out of work because of physical handicaps or limitations. However, there are some who are without work because they are always waiting for some one else to help them. If a man has a call from God to full-time Christian work, he need never be without a place of service — and when God calls, the responsibility for support is His. There are fields without a Sunday-school or a church where a young man who knows his Bible and is filled with the Holy Spirit could do real pioneer work. He would be following the example of Paul. There are abandoned churches which could be opened up, churches where children and adults would assemble gladly if a spiritually minded worker would exercise initiative. There is no neces sity for thousands of workers to congregate in some favored center and there wait for something to turn up. Why not be like the boy who saw a sign, Boy W anted,” and picked up the sign and walked into the store! “What are you doing with that sign ?” asked the storekeeper. “ I am the boy,” was the confident answer. W e are not talking about wire pulling or the ousting of some one else from his position. W e are talking of just the opposite, of pioneer work in needy fields. “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (John 4:35). “Why stand ye here all the day idle?” (Matt. 20:6). “ Son, go work today in my vineyard” (Matt. 21:28). The Aldersgate Experience On May 24, 1938, Methodists throughout the world will celebrate the 200th anni versary of John Wesley’s conversion. All Christians would do well to join in this commemoration and emphasize “ the Alders gate experience”— the wondrous experience of salvation that flooded the soul of John Wesley with joy as he whole-heartedly be lieved the gospel in a little gathering on Aldersgate Street in London. Would to God that this anniversary may be so celebrated that a revival may break out in Methodism and the church in gen eral that will bring preachers and others back to old-fashioned preaching, convic tion, repentance, and conversion so that al tars will be filled with souls that are weep ing their way to Calvary. Unless this be the result, we will merely “build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres
of the righteous”4jas did men long ago. It is tragic that persons in many denom inations today seek an Aldersgate experi ence without being willing to accept the Aldersgate theology that made peace with God possible for John Wesley. And that theology was the Scriptural, Pauline teach ing that salvation is not the result of any thing that we can do, but solely the result of our accepting by faith the death of the Lord Jesus Christ as sufficient for all our sin. Let us refresh our memories by listening to John Wesley’s own story of his conver sion as it is recorded in his journal: “ In the evening I went very unwill ingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was de scribing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an asssurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” It is obvious — as Wesley shortly de clared in his own testimony-—that he was actually saved in the Aldersgate meeting. He was evidently under deep, pungent con viction of sin and saw himself as a lost, hell-bound and hell-deserving sinner. The words of David, “ For I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me” (Psa. 51:3), expressed his heart atti tude. Not only was he convicted of his sin, but he had also a vivid realization "of the fact that only Christ could save him. He came to Jesús and accepted Him as his per sonal Saviour on the basis of Christ’s prom ise: “ Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). He then re ceived the assurance of salvation and could say with the blind man who had been healed: “ One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25). He knew that his sins were forgiven, and he could cry out with the Psalmist: “ Thou for- [Continued on Page 231] Dr. Rood’ s Schedule Paul W . Rood will preside and speak at the annual meeting of the W orld’s Christian Fundamentals Association in Waterloo, Iowa, May 8 to 15. His later schedule in cludes the following appointments: May 17—Opening of Union Campaign, Muske gon, M ich.; June 28 to July 2—Free Church Young People’s Sunday-School Conference, Buffalo, M inn.; July 3—Bible Conference, Hibbing, Minn.; July 5 to 8— Central Bible Hall, Kansas City, M o.; July 10— Calvary Church, Grand Rapids, M ich.; .July 11 to 17—Young People’s Conference, Lake Har bor, M ich.; July 24, 31, and August 7— Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles, Calif.; July 24 to 29—Biola Summer Bible Conference, Los Angeles, Calif.; August 2 to 5—Southwest Bible Conference, Flagstaff, A riz.; August 15 to 21— Covenant Young People’s Conference, Crete, Neb., and Aug ust 23 to 26—Bible Conference, First Bap tist Church, Asbury Park, N. J.
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